Desolate Devouring Art-Chapter 1001 - Renowned Swords Manor

The Northern City had three gates for entry: east, west, and south. The north had none because City Lord Bei Ming claimed that territory as his residence.

The extreme north was a land of ice and frost, where blizzards raged throughout the year. The temperatures were so low that most cultivators couldn't survive.

Yet, Bei Ming favored the harsh environment, likely due to his cultivation technique.

The further north one went, the colder it became as it approached the border of heaven and earth.

That was no surprise. The True Martial Continent wasn't a complete world, and it had boundaries. The Northern City and the Eastern Domain were closest to the world's border.

According to legend, the outermost region of the True Martial Continent became a realm of primal chaos that no living being could access. The primal chaos spawned countless vortexes that sucked in and tore apart anyone who touched them.

Liu Wuxie entered the city through the Eastern Gate, where few cultivators were seen coming and going.

The Northern City rarely had any visitors, and even fewer left it.

Snow continued to fall outside the city, but the temperature rose noticeably as he passed through the gate.

Perhaps the city's density of buildings and cultivators had altered the spatial laws inside.

The region near the gates remained sparsely populated, as locals considered it the outskirts of the Northern City.

The streets were mostly empty, and Liu Wuxie quickly noticed that almost every cultivator cultivated an ice-attribute technique. Their bodies radiated with intense ice-attribute energy.

Cultivators found it nearly impossible to practice fire-attribute techniques in the Northern City. Only those who practiced ice-attribute techniques could thrive here, as if a tiger had grown wings.

Liu Wuxie walked through the ancient streets, venturing deeper into the city.

Unbeknownst to him, someone had begun tailing him the moment he arrived, inevitable in a place where locals always kept a close watch on outsiders.

The Northern City sprawled across a vast expanse, its architecture starkly different from that of other cities. The residents clung to a more primitive style, and some streets wound around the mountains that split the city in two.

Liu Wuxie traveled hundreds of miles for two hours before finally reaching the Northern City's outer region. He found an inn and booked a room.

He prioritized finding Xu Lingxue and Murong Yi's whereabouts.

Fortunately, he had maintained contact with Tang Hong and Ji Qiu after they had parted ways in the Heavenly Nether Battlefield. He planned to rest for a day before visiting them.

The inn's construction stood out as unusual. Using intricate sculpting techniques, the craftsmen had carved the surrounding pillars and decorations from ice instead of wood.

Despite the minimal use of wood, the building remained incredibly sturdy. Ice adorned Liu Wuxie's room, and the artisans had meticulously carved a teapot on the table from ten thousand-year-old ice.

The teapot could cool boiling water, while the ice resisted the heat without melting.

A piece of ten-thousand-year-old ice was a rare treasure in the Central Plains, but it littered the streets here. Anyone who dug up a random chunk of ice would discover that it had formed at least ten thousand years ago.

The craftsmen had crafted the bed from a special type of wood that resisted the cold and gave off a faint fragrance.

Liu Wuxie sat with his legs crossed, weary from his journey.

......

At nightfall, rustling sounds came from outside the window.

The Northern City howled with powerful wind, especially at night, which sounded like wolves.

Liu Wuxie struggled to adapt to the harsh environment, one that had forged its cultivators with unmatched resilience and will.

Suddenly, Liu Wuxie frowned when he heard footsteps from outside his room. Someone was approaching the inn.

He had sensed someone tailing him that afternoon but hadn't given it much thought. After all, what hadn't he faced on his journeys across distant lands?

Liu Wuxie left the bed and vanished in a blur.

The window creaked open, and two shadowy figures poked their heads into the room. They scanned for danger before they climbed in, each wielding a dagger.

They crept toward the spot where Liu Wuxie had sat and stabbed the bedding with their daggers. They assumed Liu Wuxie was sleeping and launched their attack, planning to take his life.

The blades sank deeper into the wooden frame as they pierced the bedding. The two intruders realized something was wrong and discovered the bed empty.

Liu Wuxie's voice rang coldly behind the two intruders. "We have no feud between us. Why are you trying to kill me?"

He had just arrived in the Northern City and hadn't interacted with or offended anyone.

"Kid, hand over your interspatial ring! Don't make us force you!" one of the two youths snapped, turning to face him.

The two intruders looked young, yet they robbed strangers without hesitation.

Liu Wuxie couldn't help letting out a wry smile. The two were barely at the lower levels of the Heavenly Dipper Realm. He could easily claim their lives with a blow.

They ranked at the bottom of the hierarchy in the Central Plains, but here in the Northern City, they passed as average cultivators.

"Why did you pick me as your target?" Liu Wuxie asked, taking a seat instead of killing them. He avoided stirring trouble right after arriving in the Northern City.

The two youths exchanged glances but said nothing and charged with their daggers.

They could tell that Liu Wuxie was about the same age as them, and they assumed that the latter wasn't much stronger. They didn't realize that Liu Wuxie had deliberately concealed his cultivation to appear ordinary.

Their continued aggression finally irked Liu Wuxie, who raised his palm and struck down.

Thud!

Liu Wuxie's pressure forced the two to their knees, leaving them trapped in place. Only then did they realize they had provoked someone they couldn't afford to offend. Liu Wuxie vastly outmatched them.

"Please, don't kill us!" The two youths pleaded, kowtowing furiously.

"Explain yourselves. Why did you target me?" Liu Wuxie asked. He had no interest in killing these two youths, but he wanted to know why they had targeted him.

Even though he had been discreet when entering the Northern City, he had still caught someone's attention.

The youth kneeling on the right, sighed. "We're brothers. We target newcomers to earn some quick resources."

Those living near the gate usually held the lowest ranks in the hierarchy.

Liu Wuxie's eyes lit up. From their tone, he could tell they likely saw most of the cultivators who entered the Northern City recently.

"Have you been lurking around the gate these last few months?" Liu Wuxie asked, his voice low and grave.

The Eastern Gate had the most traffic, followed by the Southern and Western Gates.

The Southern Gate faced the Southern Province, the Western Gate faced the Western Barren, and the Eastern Gate faced the Central Plains.

The two nodded. "Yes."

They didn't dare lie, not with their lives in Liu Wuxie's hands. One wrong word could cost them everything.

"Have you seen these two women?" Liu Wuxie asked, taking out portraits of Xu Lingxue and Murong Yi.

The two youths stared at the portraits, captivated by the beauty of the women.

Liu Wuxie snorted at this sight, shaking the entire room, and snapped the two back to reality.

"I think I've seen them before!" one of them finally said after a long pause.

Liu Wuxie urged. "Tell me, where have you seen them?!"

More than a year had passed since their separation. Liu Wuxie was worried about their safety and had never given up searching for them.

"I remember now! They entered the city with an old nun about a month ago. Crowds of people saw them," the youth on the right exclaimed, slapping his thigh in realization.

Liu Wuxie frowned. "An old nun?"

He suspected that someone had forced Xu Lingxue and Murong Yi to come here.

After all, it made no sense for them to come to the Northern City when they knew he had gone to the Central Plains. Thus, he concluded that someone had likely forced them to come there.

The thought made Liu Wuxie's heart tighten. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to them.

"Do you know who that nun is?" Liu Wuxie asked. If he knew the nun's identity, finding them would be much easier.

The two youths shook their heads. Although they lived in this area, they rarely interacted with others. They spent most of their days lingering around the entrance.

They had decided to rob Liu Wuxie on a whim.

Though Liu Wuxie hadn't yet located Xu Lingxue and Murong Yi, he had finally found a lead. He could start by tracking down that old nun.

After asking a few more questions and getting nothing new, Liu Wuxie let them go. Before they left, he sternly warned that he wouldn't be so merciful again if they dared to rob anyone.

The two youths kowtowed and thanked him for sparing them before fleeing the inn.

Without wasting time, Liu Wuxie pulled out several books and flipped through them. The books contained details of the Northern City's geography, customs, and factions.

City Lord Bei Ming ruled over the entire Northern City but rarely intervened in its development.

To everyone in the Northern City, Bei Ming was more like a totem figure, a guardian in their hearts who protected the city.

At dawn, Liu Wuxie left the inn and set off toward the Renowned Swords Manor.

Ji Qiu had given him the address back in the Heavenly Nether Battlefield.

Liu Wuxie bought a map and soon found the direction to the Renowned Swords Manor. The journey would take only two days.

He asked around for information along the way.

However, the Northern City swarmed with old nuns, especially with temples scattered everywhere. Liu Wuxie knew he couldn't check all the temples even if he spent the next six months searching.

Two days later, Liu Wuxie finally arrived outside the Renowned Swords Manor.

Two stone lions guarded the gate from either side. The words "Renowned Swords Manor" gleamed above the gate. Each character resembled a sword and radiated a terrifying sword aura.

Whoever wrote the characters must have been a swordmaster, for they had infused the strokes perfectly with sword aura.

Surprisingly, the Renowned Swords Manor kept its gate shut tight, even as the sun climbed higher into the sky.

Liu Wuxie walked up to the gate, hand raised to knock.

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